ATHENS, Ga. — It took 15 innings and almost six hours for the 17th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (30-10) to dispose of No. 4 Clemson, 4-3, on Tuesday night at Foley Field.
Georgia coach Wes Johnson said his team can play and beat anybody in the country.
“That’s what I try to tell them, to know that you can play with anybody in the country," Georgia coach Wes Johnson said. "We’ve done it. We won at Tennessee, we went into one of the hardest place to play, in my opinion, at Mississippi State and won a game. You look at some of the things that we’ve done and we have to continue to believe, get better, and learn from tonight.
In front of the biggest crowd at Foley Field since 2009, the Bulldogs' Paul Toetz scored the game-winning run in the 15th inning of a Clemson wild pitch.
“This was by far the longest game I’ve been a part of. It’s really hard to stay locked in for both teams," Toetz said. "The beginning and middle of the game were really good, but then you see a lot of zeros from the 10th to the 15th. We did our best to stay locked in and focused. We got rewarded today, and that’s the best thing about it. Right before (the wild pitch), Coach Simpson looked at me and said remember, the ball kicks hard off the backstop, so I was locked in. In the back of my head, I was like, he will probably throw it to the backstop. I didn’t even hesitate, and I said let’s go home. I was running really fast, and that’s how it felt with everyone yelling.”
Georgia tied the game in the ninth inning off a Corey Collins (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) single that scored pinch runner Trey King.
The Bulldogs sent 10 pitchers to the mound, combining for 21 strikeouts, with the last nine tossing 11 scoreless innings.
Chandler Marsh made his first appearance since March 12 against Iowa, coming in the 14th inning. Marsh struck out all five batters he faced over 1 2/3 innings to earn his first win of the season.
“It was awesome. I spent a lot of time in the bullpen until around the 13th," Marsh said. "It was just guy after guy doing their job. Fortunately, I got my name called, and I’m really excited it came now. There’s no better group of guys to do it with. They're the best, and there’s no one else I’d rather compete with.”
Chandler Marsh
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Georgia will travel to take on No. 1 ranked Texas A&M on Friday, with the first pitch set for 7:02 p.m. ET. The game will be available on SECN+.
